CH and Havies set for thriller

Dialog Inter-Club Rugby League 2017/2018

By Shamseer Jaleel 

The second round of the Dialog Inter-Club Rugby League will go through its second set of games this week with the pick of the games being between CH&FC and Havelocks at Havelock Park today. 

The wounded CH side, after losing a close encounter to Navy, will be under pressure to perform well in this game and improve their ranking from sixth position. 

After their morale-boosting win over CH, the sailors will be a different outfit altogether when they take on Army. Led by Dhanushka Perera, they have some outstanding players in their ranks. Their placekicker Thilina Weerasinghe is a match-winner with his touch and penalty kicks capable of putting opponents under pressure. His kicks always allow Navy to attack from the opposition’s 22. 

On the other hand Army lost out to CR and they have every reason to fire on all cylinders to reclaim their lost number three position. Coached by Nilfer Ibrahim, one of the top coaches in the country, they will be determined to come out on top here. They too possess some solid players of the calibre of Asoka Jayalal, Gayan Salinda and skipper Senanayake. Going according to form, the sailors will be favoured to eke out a close win. Army will be on the back foot after losing their star scrum half Moahmed Rizvi, who was banned for three matches by Sri Lanka Rugby Committee member Aruna Jayasekera for stamping on a CR player. Navy too will miss out on the services of Buddhima Piyaratne for this encounter due to a high tackle on a CH player in their last encounter. The game will be refereed by Dinka Peris. 

Havelocks will host the wounded CH&FC, who suffered from a defeat in their last game against the sailors. Havelocks, who occupy the number two position behind Kandy, will be favoured to pull off a close win. Dulaj Perera, Reza Mubarak, Sharo Fernando, Nishon Perera and Hirantha Perera are all top-class players. The injured Kevin Dexon is expected to return after his jaw injury in the first round. CH will depend heavily on Lee Keegale, Yoshith Rajapaksa, Sajith Saranga and Sathya Ranathunge. Once again Samuel Maduwantha’s place kicks will play a vital role in the final outcome of this game. On form Havies will hold a slight edge in securing a close win and maintaining their number two position. The game will be refereed by Aaqil Jamaldeen. 

Kandy will always remember their fate last year against the Air Force outfit at the same venue in Ratmalana and will not take them lightly. They will field their best side for this game. Both skipper Gayan Weeraratne and Fazil Marija will be returning to the starting line-up for the unbeaten league and Clifford Cup champion outfit. 

Sadly once again their regular scrum half Roshan Weeraratne will be missing from the line up with a nagging injury. This will allow Sooriyabandara to start the game. Their three quarter line looks unstoppable. Dhanushka Ranjan, Richard Dharmapala, Anurudha Wilwara and Lavanga Perera are a class above the rest. Nigel Ratwatte and Thilina Wijesinghe, who can walk into the national side without much effort, need to battle it out between them for the fullback spot. The forwards are headed by Sayuru Anthony and well supported by Shehan Pathirana, Uchithra Jayasuirya and Yakoob Ali. Air Force will depend on Seelagama and Iddamalgoda to guide the juniors through. Kandy should run away with a bonus point win and easily retain their number one position for yet another week. The referee for the game will be Priyantha Gunaratne. 

CR should have things their own way when they meet last-placed Police, who will need an urgent revamp in order to stay in contention in this league. The red shirts displayed red hot rugby in their last game against the soldiers which saw them record a close win. 

Omalka Gunaratne, Kavindu Perera, Shasan Mohamed and Tharinda Ratwatte stood out for the Longdon Place club. The cops will depend heavily on Sandesh Jayawickrema’s boots and Fahmy Wahid to produce some sort of miracle since on form the red shirts look certain to record an easy bonus point win. Referee Priya Susantha will control things out in the middle.

Today 

CH&FC vs. Havelocks                Havelock Park (under lights) 

January 6 

CR&FC vs. Police                Police Park 

Kandy SC vs. Air Force                Ratmalana 

January 7 

Navy SC vs. Army SC                Havelock Park